“Bagatelle by Maurice Denuziere, Translated from the French by June P. Wilson. Her name was Caroline. Her beauty was exceptional, her passions and ambitions unquenchable. Her resolve: to become mistress of the great southern plantation named Bagatelle, located not far from old New Orleans. His name was Clarence Dandridge. He was a bachelor, slender, handsome, a man of probity, the catch of Louisiana. He was also a man with a terrible secret that prevented him from loving and marrying any woman, a man who desired but could not possess the most desirable woman of the antebellum South, Caroline. So begins this international best seller written in the grand tradition of the great romantic southern novels. It is a story filled with danger and death, war and pestilence, a story of an unforgettable heroine, Caroline, and hero, Clarence, and their successful struggle to overcome personal and historical adversity.”

The book begins in the early 1800s and follows the happenings and people of Bagatelle Plantation. The original Bagatelle Plantation (see picture above) was located much closer to where The Cabin is in Burnside and moved in the 1970s to Plaquemine Point by barge, about 20 miles upriver from Burnside. Originally published in French in 1898, Denuziere’s novel has served as a way to get to know Louisiana for French citizens for the last 100+ years. In fact, when I was working at Bocage Plantation a few years ago, we had French guests who said as much and recommended the book to me.

So if you’re on vacation and looking for a good read and are interested in Louisiana history, I highly recommend Bagatelle. You won’t regret it!

If you do decide to pay us a visit down here in Plantation Country, I have the perfect place for you to stay. The Cajun Village Cottages, tucked back in the woods next to The Cajun Village, is a cozy and quiet bed and breakfast that is centrally located all the things to do and see in our parish (it’s also right in the middle between New Orleans and Baton Rouge).

The Cajun Village Cottages include eight Acadian-style shotgun houses dating back to around 1900. They were found and saved from near the historic area of downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana known as Spanish Town and moved to their serene surroundings in Sorrento, Louisiana. Restored with original wooden floors and decorated with authentic antiques, each Cajun country cottage has its own distinct furnishings and ambiance.

Choose a cabin and give us a call today to make reservations before we book up for the summer season!

The Nottoway Plantation House, one of the largest antebellum plantation houses in the south, is composed of 64 rooms, 7 staircases, and 5 galleries. This 53,000-square foot plantation home, constructed by John Hampden Randolph in 1858, is a fine example of an antebellum home. Randolph, whose father had come from Virginia in 1820, purchased the area in 1841. In 1860 Nottoway Plantation encompassed 6,200 acres and Randolph, the builder and owner of the property during that time. Randolph had many designs submitted from various architects for his home, but he eventually settled on Henry Howard to design the mansion. The main house survived the Civil War. The Randolphs held onto the house through the Civil War and Reconstruction until 1889, when Mrs. Randolph sold the mansion following her husband’s death.

Nottoway sits about 200 feet behind the Mississippi River Levee surrounded by oaks, magnolias, pecan trees, and sweet olives. It is distinctive from many River Road plantations in that it was Italianate in style. Although many people think of Greek Revival architecture as the dominant form in antebellum Louisiana, that style was well on its way out by 1860 and Italianate had taken hold, especially in the mind and hands of Henry Howard. Nottoway’s thin Italianate pillars stretch vertically to touch all of its three levels, extending from the house’s one-story brick base to the paramount height of the third-story made of wooden frame. From the front gallery the Mississippi River is in view. The interior of Nottoway is white in color, including Corinthian columns, lace curtains, carved marble mantels and even the floor, creating an elegant environment.

Today, Nottoway serves many functions, including operating as a wedding and event facility, operating as a bed and breakfast (you get to stay in the mansion!), and offering daily tours. It is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River in White Castle, about 30 minutes from The Cabin Restaurant & Bernadette’s Restaurant.

Now that summer is officially here thanks to the passing of the summer solstice a few days ago, families and adventurers across the country are gearing up for extended trips. And if there’s one thing Americans do well, it’s road trips. From families going to visit relatives a few states away, to college students hitting the open road searching for a taste of independence and adventure, to couples with RVs who are constantly touring the highways and byways of the United States, most of America will hop in a car and drive at some point over the next two months.

Ascension Parish is no stranger to visitors passing through, as it has a large number of tourist attractions. Several plantations sit close to the levees that hem in the Mississippi River, museums offer a chance to explore the rich heritage of our area, and swamps and bayous can be explored in canoes or air-boats. (For a comprehensive list of all attractions, please visit the Ascension Parish Tourism Commission’s website).

Generally speaking, it is easier to figure out where you’re going to stay than what you’re going to visit when you’re on the road. Often, people choose big hotel chains (Marriotts, Hiltons, etc.) because they are convenient to find, have fairly reasonable rates, and always have vacancies. As a fairly young man fresh out of grad school, I confess to getting sucked into the big hotel chains cheap rates and continental breakfasts over the last few years (a common question my friends and I often asked each when selected a place to stay was “How many guys can we squeeze into one room for the lowest price.”). That was until I began working in the tourism industry for a bed and breakfast, which totally changed my outlook on where to stay when I traveled.

Bed and breakfasts provide a personal experience that you’ll never find at large hotel chains. Whether it’s a freshly cooked full breakfast, peace and solitude that you can only find by getting off the interstate and driving away from it, not staying the night right next to it, or vernacular antiques that you’d expect to find in an auction house and not your bedroom, BnBs provide a decidedly unique and relaxing experience that will make you never want to leave. Here in Ascension Parish, we have several BnBs that can provide you with perfect basecamp for touring the area or a just a place to rest your weary head after a long day on the open road (personally, I am partial to The Cajun Village Cottages, which sits back in a secluded hollow in the Louisiana woods).

So if you’re travelling to or through Ascension Parish this summer on a road trip, I encourage you to branch out and try the bed and breakfast experience. I promise you won’t be disappointed!